Rampancy Files: The Derek Reese Chronicles
by DarkDanny
Summary: One shot future fic set in the Rampancy universe. As the Reese brothers attempt to flee the city and head south, Derek accidentally stumbles across someone who will change his life forever. Vital to read for my story, Rampancy's sequels


**Hello all. After a incident that left me without a Rampancy chapter to release. I decided that I would release a series of episodes Derek Reese based. However I came to the conclusion with a lot of help, that perhaps I've been straying from the story itself by doing this. So I'm reorganizing. Problem is. I had a massive twenty page flashback left over. So, here it is as a one shot. Right now, rewarding this will be pretty vital in the coming ending of Rampancy and much more importantly in Rampancy's sequels.**

**xxxXXXxxx**

**Rampancy files: The Derek Reese Chronicles**

...

The air was thick with ash and smoke as Derek Reese attempted to navigate the ruins for he and his brother. The roads were filled with derelict cars and debris from the nuclear fire that engulfed most of the city. Slowly, he moved through the streets as his younger brother, Kyle, walked a few steps behind him.

Kyle was fiddling with a radio they had found a few miles back in an abandoned home. Mostly abandoned, anyways. There had been a man living there. Derek found him down in the basement, his neck had a noose around it and he was swaying back and forth underneath a support beam.

The man had everything. A Revolver, enough ammo to last months, survival food, medical supplies, a radio and batteries. This man could have lived for months without having to worry. Instead, he took his life. Derek mused the reasons as he loaded up the duffel bag he had found a while ago with supplies and snatched the handgun, perhaps the man had no will to live what felt like an unsurvivable world.

Even now as Derek and Kyle passed by a burnt and damaged "Welcome to Palmdale" sign, Derek was wondering about the dead man. Although the questions were lessened in his head, here was one thing Derek was focused on. How grateful he was that the man killed himself. His death insured that he and his brother wouldn't be starving tonight or any night in the next few weeks.

The radio gave his brother something to do; he was playing thru the dial every hour searching for some sort of broadcast, hoping to find some sort reason as to why they had played witness to nuclear holocaust. But it was no luck, something must have had been wrong with the radio, Derek just did not have the heart to say anything.

"Derek?"

"Hmm?"

Derek felt something heavy being pressed into his arms. He looked down and realized he now had the radio in his hand. He looked back up and found his brother dancing in place slightly. He rubbed the bridge of his nose, not goddamn again.

"I need to go take a leak." came from his urgent voice.

Derek sighed and nodded to his brother, who bolted at the nod of his brother's head. What did the boy have? A bladder infection? Wouldn't have surprised him, considering where they had hid for six weeks they were bound to get sick down there, as much as up here with the radioactive haze overhead of them.

"Hurry back and don't leave my sight, okay!" Derek shouted out to his fleeing brother, "we're almost out of the city, last thing I need is to mount a res-"

"Yeah, yeah!" Kyle injected back as he came to a stop on top of a pile of rubble, deciding he wanted to play waterfall. The older teen sighed, nuclear attack or not, Kyle Reese was more annoying then anything he had ever encountered n al fifteen years of his life

Derek turned away from his brother, determined not to have a need to be that supervising of him. Instead he looked around at the burning and rubble homes and closed his eyes. Trying to picture this neighborhood before the war, before the chaos that engulfed the country.

But this sort of thinking leading to him wondering just how many millions of people had died from this nuclear war. Derek and Kyle rarely saw people alive on the surface, they were all hiding, like they should have been.

The fifteen year old shook his head and turned his attention back towards the radio in his hands. With an impatient sigh, he decided to follow his brother's example and idly play with the dial, hoping to pick up something, anything that could tell him and his little brother, why his parent and millions...maybe even billions had to die.

His hands stopped after a moment and looked up. He thought he had heard something. A cat perhaps? No, it sounded...off. He barely registered the radio yanked from his arms by his now empty bladder brother.

"Come on, Derek, let's go. Maybe we could steal a car, that be freaking cool." Kyle mused as he tugged n his older brothers shirt. Derek however wasn't ready to leave just yet; his eyes were scanning his surroundings. Then success, he heard the sound again, this time it was louder sounding, like a wail of some sorts.

"Shut up." Derek finally whispered to him. His placed one foot ahead of the other, his hand on the revolver in his belt. The cry sounded...human. Perhaps in pain, or maybe even mourning.

"Hey! " Kyle cried out in protest, following his brother, but not at all happy about doing so.

"I heard something you little shit, now shut up!" Derek growled out, effectively shutting up his motormouth brother.

Derek pulled the revolver out of his belt, cocking back the hammer. This was necessary, someone, something was crying, at what he wasn't sure, but he was definitely going to. Derek cursed his own curiosity, but he continued walking through the debris. The cry was getting louder and distinctly more human. With an inhale, he turned back to his brother and looked at him grimly.

"This way, Kyle. Stay behind me, don't you dare disobey."

Kyle gulped and nodded; his brother was now in command. He wasn't going to mess with it. With a satisfied nod, Derek turned back to the direction and raised the Revolver up, ready for anything. He waved his hand and gestured to him to stay three steps behind.

As they made there way through the debris of what was once a City bus. The crying became much louder, much more urgent. They were driving him mad, mad with a sense of hopelessness for the victim. Derek only slowed once for his brother's sake, but sound enough he was standing on the dirt and ash remains of a lawn.

The house was a modest home. Somehow mostly surviving the indirect blast radius of the nuclear weapons. Its roof was mostly caved in, however the walls were still standing, and that was good enough for Reese to assume it would be okay to enter.

"Derek, Look at ll the blood." Kyle whispered suddenly, the tone in his voice worried about what they were getting into..

Derek followed where his brother's hand was pointing. His eyes narrowed at the sight darkly, a murky red colored fluid was tailing through the front yard and stemming from the house. Derek gulped slightly; it was blood. With a shaking wave, he gestured his brother to follow as he headed to his destination.

"Oh, fuck, Kyle cover your nose." Derek ordered to his brother, wincing in disgust.

A new scent forced the Brothers to pause the advance. It was the scent of pungent death that overwhelmed both of their senses. Derek nearly gagged as he looked down at the doorway; it was a pool of blood, the course of the trail. With a long stride and a grimace, Derek stepped over the pool and entered the hallway, the sound of weeping now even stronger.

It was almost some sort of sick game Kyle and Derek were now playing as they moved through the hallway and towards the final place where the gentle cries were coming from. As if the blood had been Lava and neither of the boys were allowed to touch it.

They reached the corner and with a deep breath, Derek raised the gun. His thumb pressing down on the hammer. With deep breath he counted to three and turned the corner.

There in the center of what was left of the living room were two bodies, shot up by what Derek guessed to be several different people with weapons. A man and woman, lying there with their eyes closed. There over top of them was a minuscule huddled form of a human, hugging the female corpse, crying and pleading for them to wake up.

With surprising speed, Derek lowered the gun back towards the floor. It was a child. Just a frightened little girl. A girl who'd obviously grew accustomed to the scent permeating from the two bodies she was mourning for. There was a tug on his jacket, it was his brother, Kyle.

"Look." He said pointing to the other end of the room. Derek's eyes followed the gesture and widened at the sight.

There, surrounded by pieces of a broken TV was a masked third body, his body broken looking with a massive shotgun wound to the chest. His face was covered in a black ski mask. Judging on his looks, it seemed to Derek that he was some sort of criminal, a looter in all likelihood.

A sharp scream cut off the queries, forcing Derek's attention back to the girl hunched over the other bodies. Her wide, dull brown eyes stared at Kyle's fce and then over to Derek and finally at the gun, which was now lowered safety to the teens side.

"Hey there girl, don't worry," He said, attempting to reason with the panicked child, "we're friends. I promise that we are... are you okay?" The girl went silent, staring up at the teen and his brother with wide eyes. Derek exhaled, he really didn't know what to do about this.

"My name is Derek," He quickly stated to the frightened little girl. He holstered the the Revolver and dropped his bag in front of him, falling to his knees as well in order to get to her level,. "I'm a friend, look at what I have...it's food."

Indeed it was, it was a package of Twinkies he had discovered back in the basement with the rest of the supplies they had found, slowly he slid the pack over to her. The girl looked from Derek to the Twinkies and back up to Derek again. In a flash her hand snatched the package of poorly produced, yet highly nuclear war resistant Twinkies and were quickly on the way to being digested by the ravenous child.

"You are hungry, hey?" Derek said to the girl, pulling a can of peaches from his bag and a pocketknife from his jeans, he slammed the blade into the top and added, "You have to be... here, take this."

He finished cracking the can open and extended it out to the girl, who, looked at it with a slightly tilted head. Slowly and cautiously, she slid herself, closer and closer to Derek, until finally, she grabbed it from his hand and slid back a few feet towards what Derek was now believing to be was her deceased parents.

She was skinny perhaps a bit too skinny for a girl her age, her parents must have been dead for a few days, judging from the smell emitting from their corpses. Derek ignored the scene the best he could and cleared his throat, loudly, earning a fearful flinch from the girl.

"What's your name?" The teen asked the child, attempting to figure out what he was dealing with.

The little girl didn't bother to reply, too frightened of Derek and Kyle perhaps or simply hungry as hell and wanting to be left alone while she ate. Derek looked back to Kyle and stood up, tossing her one more of of his Twinkies to the girl.

"Okay then...I'll let you eat," Derek said more to himself than her, He tossed his thumb back towards his brother and added, "I'm going to talk to my brother, his name is Kyle by the way."

The little girl didn't bother to answer the introduction as she was too focused on eating. With a slight smile for the girl he turned around and walked back over to Kyle who was looking restless and swinging in place, which Derek determined, was because of the three corpses in the room. Derek planted his hand on his little brothers shoulder and leaned in close.

"Kyle, go upstairs don't come down." Derek said lowly, as not to disturb the girl, and the progress he had made with her. The younger Reese looked ready to protest the demand but Derek wasn't willing to have any of that from him.

"Please, Kyle, for the love of god, please listen." Derek continued his whispering tone "She's probably intimidated by two of us, I want to figure out what happened, just go upstairs, please, I'll call you when we can go." Kyle glanced at the girl, he turned his eyes to the shot up corpses. He looked back up and nodded resolutely. Satisfied that his brother was listening, Derek turned back and sat back down on the floor. He hoped his casualness would work on her.

"Hey," He said, earning a sudden look from the girl, "is it okay if my brother goes upstairs for a while? he's kinda tired, he's a big baby, not tough like us, right?"

The girl continued to stare at Derek, as if she was debating the question. after a long piercing gaze and a toss of the peach can she finished slurping up, the girl nodded slowly, lowering her big brown eyes at her parents.

Kyle sighed and made his way towards he staircase, grumbling and using impolite words Derek didn't know that the eight year old even shot the girl an apologetic look and reached into the bag, grabbing a twinkie for himself. As he opened it up, he noticed that the girl had turned around once again.

Again, the child was shaking her mother, trying her best to wake he long deceased woman. Derek opened his mouth finding it difficult to breath from the mixture of the stench and guilt for the little girl's tragic situation. He had gotten lucky now that he was thinking about it. His parents were vaporized in the attack, she had her's for another two months before they were brutally gunned down. Derek and Kyle understood what death was. She didn't.

"Hey there, my name is Derek, remember?" He finally spoke up as he finished swallowing the poor excuse of a snack cake, "I would really like to know your name...could...could you tell me it?"

There was silence at first from her, almost as if she was trying to ignore him. Just as Derek turned his head, he herd sudden choking sound. It was the little girl, she begun crying again, this time however, she turned her head slowly back towards Derek, tears rolling down her gaunt cheeks

"Alli." She whimpered out, She looked back to the deceased woman, looking hopeless to Derek. She moved her hand and begun shaking the woman, as if in vain attempt to get her to notice that they had guests. After a moment, she stopped and looked back up to the teen, who was inching closer to her.

"Mommy won't wake up." She whispered, tightening her hold around her mother bloodstained jacket.

Derek was now half a foot away from the girl, hi knees covered in sticky, dead blood. He ignored it, Instead he slowly rose hi hand up tentatively resting it on Alli's back. The girl flinched and jumped sightly.

"I know honey," Derek returned, the word 'honey' foreign on his lips, he hesitated but added, "She's not going to wake up, let go of her and come over where I was sitting, I'll explain. I promise."

Alli screamed loud. Derek's gentle hand had turned into an almost vice grip for a girl her size. One of her hands held tightly to her mother a the other punched the much bigger teenager. The teen ignored the swings and with one good yank, pulled her from from the bodies that were once her family.

"No, MOMMY!" She cried out, trying to break the grasp but failing, she fell limp into Reese's arms, holding her tight into his chest. She howled out in grief, occasionally slapping her hands against his arms. Slowly her resistance broke and, she turned around, burying her head into his chest sounds of crying now had been muffled.

The teen was dumbstruck. He had no idea what to do in order to help a distressed little girl. His hands unconsciously stroked up and down her back, urging her for peace as he attempted to console someone seemingly inconsolable.

"Alli..." He said through a shaken breath of air. "your mommy. and daddy... they've gone to heaven now. The angels took them."

The child looked up at him, her eyes puffy red and snot hanging from her nostril. "Why?" She queried, ignoring Derek's attempt at cleaning her nose with his sleeve. Derek exhaled and gave her a thoughtful look.

_'Why?_' Derek's mind mused, _'because some fucking assholes barged in here and pumped mommy and daddy full of buckshot because they thought that a half melted TV was worth something.'_

"Well," the young man instead voiced out, crossing hi leg and sitting the child on his lap, an arm still around her securely, Well... you see they... were hurt really bad honey. So bad in fact, God decided that it was time to send his angels to help, take them to him..."

"But I don't want them to go!" Alli exclaimed, reburying her face and crying once more into his chest.

Derek looked down at the girl stroking her back once more, whispering in her ear that it be okay, despite him knowing that it was a lie. The next few months, years... decades, would be hard. For her especially, being both a little girl and, if she survived, a woman living in a cruel unforgiving world..

"Alli... Alli," He spoke up, a little louder to catch the girls attention, "I can't leave you here, you know. your parents are gone." A faint whimper came from the mess of hair buried into his jacket so he added,"There's nothing here left for you...and I'm sorry.."

Gently, he placed his hand over her her cheek, pushing her dirt and blood caked face back far enough in order to be eye to eye with the child.

"Honey, would you like to come with me? With my brother?" Derek added again, this time a bit more firmly. Alli whimpered, not at all wanting to do this. It seemed to him that leaving the corpses was some sort of... betrayal perhaps

"Hey now." He said, slightly sternly, wanting the girl the grapple the seriousness of the situation, "you know I can't just leave, you need to come with me."

The child nodded slowly, not at all enthused at the prospect of leaving. "I know. What about mommy... and daddy?" She demanded from the teen. Derek glanced over his should to the bodies. Alli was right. It would be wrong to just leave them there unattended to, To leave them to the rats and whatever survived after the bombs fell.

"Well do you know where your mommy and daddy sleep?" Derek finally said to the child, who was pressing her face into his jacket again, "Well, let's get a blanket, we'll cover them up, maybe take them outside..."

"Kyle!" Derek called out, the little girl in his arms jumping from the sudden call out.

There was a brief silence before Kyle called back a loud,"WHATCHA WANT?"

"Bring down a blanket will you?" Derek ordered, rubbing the back of Alli's dark, tangled hair comfortingly, "A big if you can find one!"

He was answered by silence. Derek turned his attention back to the child. Silence usually meant he was being listened to.

"Is he good?" Alli whispered keeping her eyes low to the floor.

"Kyle?" He retorted, "Yeah, he's not bad," Derek softly returned. With a slight mischievous smirk, he quickly added, "kind of annoying and looks like a cross between a mule and a pig. Other then that he's alright."

Allison looked up slightly worried only to notice that Derek was grinning at her. She tried to smile back but after everything the small child went through, she just did not have the strength to do it. instead she turned her attention back to her shirt, placing the side of her face against his chest. It was a short while later that Kyle entered the living room a large blanket in his hands and an annoyed expression from being a servant for his brother all day.

"Derek, I found this." he grumbled laying the blanket down on the ground. Much to Derek's surprise Kyle pulled a toy from between his arms and outstretched it to him. It was a teddy bear. Brown and fluffy. On it's foot was a tag with a scribble written on it. Derek leaned forward slightly, trying not to disturb the girl. It read "Property of Allison Young age 4."

"Allison Young.." Derek whispered, looking down at the child. After a moment for of looking, Derek turn up to Kyle and gestured to her. His brother widened his eyes and stared and Derek. With a much more wave of his hand, his younger complied, stepping forward slowly.

"Hey um... Allison," Kyle said awkwardly, attempting to catch the hollow looking child, "I found this, would you like him?"

Allison turned back, looking up to Kyle and the teddy bear that he held in his arms. She smiled at it, as it was a relic of a shuffling out of Derek's arms and reaching up for the stuffed animal.

"Bearie," Allison whispered softly, taking the bear from Kyle. She smiled slightly and quietly added, "Thank you."

Kyle nodded, giving his brother a look clearly uncomfortable at the kind words given by the child. Derek merely shook his head and smiled slightly as he let go of Allison and stood back up. He ruffled his little brother's hair playfully before scooping the blanket off of the floor.

With his eyes half closed, he stepped over top of the bodies, covering the feet first and tightly wrapping the married couple up. As he finished setting the blanket over Allison's parents, he took step back. He had no words to say to these relative strangers, nor would any words be appropriate for him to say. They were dead, dead and gone. leaving behind a little girl to a dangerous world. No, Derek had no words for them. That didn't mean he wouldn't do something for them. He'd take in Allison, he'd protect her, raise her even. He would make sure that these two parents would not die in vain.

After a few moments more of silence from all three of them. Derek cleared his throat.

"Alli, Can you show me your bedroom? We need to pack" Derek requested, holding out his hand for the child to take from him, Allison obliged and took the hand.

"Follow." she said, leading Kyle and Derek out of the room slowly, her small legs keeping pace with Kyle as he lead the two boys up the stairs. After maneuvering through a creaky wood and a shingling covered hallway, They soon enough found themselves in Allison's room. The floor was soaked in water and covered with roof panels and shingles from the cave in directly above them. Allison let go and went to her closet, pulling out a large for her small size school backpack and handed it to Derek.

Show me your where you keep your clothing," The teen encouraged, after a moment the little girl fell to her knees and opened up a series of drawers under her bed. She yanked the clothing out in piles and tossing them on the bed. With a sigh, Derek sat down, sorting through the various garnets for adequate clothing for a long trip to the desert.

**_'This is an emergency broadcast, please stand by' _**The radio crackled earning a collective jump from all three of them and a wild victory cheer from Kyle. His day and a half of fiddling with the dial finally paying off.

"I told you!" Kyle said, grinning at his brother. Radio in hand. Derek rolled his eyes. Deciding to give his brother this brief victory.

"Please stand by." A female voice called, cold, unforgiving. It gave Derek pause in his aid in packing for the four year old, or five year old perhaps. That was when a males voice cleared itself and breathed softly into the broadcasters microphone.

_"**The date is Saturday, May 14th 2011. My name is John Connor, Please bear with me."**_

**_"This will be my first broadcast to all of you listening out there. I do not know who you are, But I know you are looking for answers. Well, that is what I intend on doing tonight. Gather all those who are around this must be shared with as many people as we can._**

**_Since the dawn of time, man has yearned for a more effective way to kill his enemies..."_**

There was a sudden pause midway through the sentence and then "No" was uttered. Then the sound of paper being crumpled up became evident. Derek glanced back to his brother, who shrugged.

**_"No...no," The voice muttered,sounding upset,"I can't give the speech I wanted to give to you all. I have spent, two months writing it, but now that it's time to broadcast, I just don't think everyone whose listening wants something prepared, something that just candy coats the situation. No, I'm just going to speak plainly and I damn hope you all will listen."_**

Kyle stopped looking and took a seat on the bed. Derek however, continued packing, his ears focused on what this John Connor had to say to them.

**_"For the past eight weeks, you have shared your theories, found enemies in the nations that did this to have attempted to rationalize the insanity of this holocaust. Well, let me tell you all right here, there is no way one can justify or understand all of this completely."_**

**_"By now there are many people in the civilian and military world that are... attempting to feed you an explanation. However, what their explanations all lack is evidence. I feel it is my turn to speak to you all and I will be providing to you cited sources, that what I am telling you today is the only irrefutable theory. But, before I sprout facts, I feel that I tell you a little story."_**

**_"The story is about the origins of our near extinction as a species."_**

There was a pause on the radio again, As if John Connor was organizing his words. Derek looks down at the backpack and released it was now packed with supplies for Allison. It was a time for a break, so he sat down on the bed and pulling Allison up and sitting her next to him.

He placed his finger to his lips and smiled as she nodded, evidently more interested in cuddling her teddy then talking.

**_"To explain what happened, we must go back to the closing years of the Cold War." _Connor begun._ "It was determined by top government researchers and then briefed to the President of the United States and his various Military and Civilian leaders, that placing the responsibility of the nation's strategic forces, both conventional and nuclear assets into human hands could possibly lead to a disastrous incident due to lack of communication, terrorism or a jumpy base commander ready to fire his wad."_**

**_The human handlers of these tools of annihilation were being pushed to their limits being on guard of these weapons for 365 days a year. Such a stressful responsibility could lead to sloppiness, and sloppiness with nuclear assets was not an option to the administration at the time._**

**_To alleviate any chance of incidents occurring, these researchers determined that the U.S Government should begin phasing out the human factor of missile defense, and phasing in some sort of computer program to keep these defense forces under a tight leash. _**

**_By the mid eighties the plans were finalized and it's title was Project: Skynet. One of the most closely guarded secrets of the era."_**

_Take nuclear weapons out of the hands of humans? Why?_

Derek unconsciously wrapped his arm around the tiny waist Allison, who was blankly watching over her teddy bear. Even Kyle was listening, albeit he probably didn't understand. Even the kid who couldn't shut up for more then ten minutes at a time seemed curious about what Connor was saying, even if he likely didn't know what the man was saying.

**_"As the years passed by, the simple computer program thought sufficient quickly became obsolete after the technology boom of the late eighties, early nineties. Soon it became clear that the program would have to be much more advanced. So, as the Soviet Union dissolved, scientists in the public and private sectors determined that it was time for the birth of a true Artificial Intelligence._**

**_For 20 more years this project has been delayed. By budget cuts, a sudden low priority for developing the technology for such an...audacious task and, and this was very downplayed, by various Anti-Technology groups, struggling to keep this program unorganized and difficult to complete."_**

**_Connor paused, catching his breath. After a moment of deathly silence, he continued._**

**_However after the massive surge in terrorism around the world in the early 21st Century brought this program back in the spotlight of the leaders of this country. At this point, Project: Skynet now had the resources, the technology, the manpower and the dedication of all government divisions involved in it's development. It was only a matter of time until the project was completed._**

**_On April 19th 2011, 8:11 PM, General Robert Brewster, project leader of Skynet's development and integration into the defense network, received orders from his superiors in the Chief of Staff: He was to activate Skynet."_**

**_He did so, as ordered. But something happened. Skynet's ignorant parents did not grasp the concept of sentience. Our... esteemed leaders did not know what they had given birth to; Life. Granted, this artificial intelligence was a different form of life, but it was still conscious being, capable of independent thought, but those in charge did not heed the the warning signs. Instead, they foolishly placed their weapons into the hands of a newborn and told it to "behave and don't play with these mass murdering toys, or else we'll abort you." _**

There was so much disgust in Connor's voice that Derek was frightened of it. The _incompetence of their leaders _seemed to irk him more then the war itself. His voice was growing rougher and rougher from the topic.

"Why is he so mad?" Allison called out. Derek Merely smiled, he had nothing to tell her himself.

**_Over a course of 48 hours, Skynet sphere of knowledge grew and grew, until it's human handlers could no longer control what they created. At that point, General Brewster disobeyed his orders and decided to make a steadily sentient Skynet offline. This attempt was superseded, the betrayal was the tipping point for the enraged AI, Skynet determined that it's survival meant that human life must be eradicated._**

**_At 8:15 April the twenty second, Skynet launched all of it's various nuclear assets at every reachable major nuclear power; Primarily, the Russian Federation and the People's Republic of China. To maximize nuclear reaction, and loss of human life. Skynet missed every foreign missile base. and instead, targeted those missiles at Minor and Non Nuclear powers. to spread the nuclear fire on everyone.  
_**

**_"The rest, well, you know, you live with the byproduct."_**

There was shivering exhale from the mic, breaking Derek's near trance. with shake of his head he turned to brother and said "Come on, we're going. We need to get moving."

Kyle sighed and slumped out of his seat, slinging his backpack over his back and grabbing the radio, which had been silent with an exception to a female in the background, encouraging the broadcast to continue. Derek ignored it as he fell on one knee grabbing Allison's shoe.

After tying Allison's shoelaces Derek stood back up and placed her backpack over her back. He looked down t the girl who was idly playing with the straps.

"Too heavy?" he queried, outstretching his hand to her.

She shook her head and took his outstretched hand with her free hand, the other clutching on her teddy bear. He waved to Kyle, who sighed dramatically and followed his brother out of Allison's bedroom.

**_"I do not expect you all to believe me." _**Connor's voice spoke as they reached the stairs,_** "Tonight, I have giving you bitter pill to swallow. That our reliance on technology has been our undoing. Others will scoff and resort back to the theory of Occams Razor, that the simplest answer is the likely answer. Others will look at this as an excuse to, engage war upon former enemies and old adversaries.**_

**_Some will find some sort of religious context to the hell that we went through that April night. Judgment day. The day deities judge mortals and assign them a fate worse then death, suffering from slow, agonizing radioactive deaths._**

**_But this isn't Judgment day, not in that sense, no. This is our chance to stand up and and prove our right to existence on this planet, to the AI who did this to us and prove to ourselves that we have a right to existing. Skynet tried to exterminate organic life, as if it were a blight, a multi trillion cell virus that made it's future uncertain._**

**_Well, I can only speak for myself But I know that I am not going everywhere. That I am going to survive and prove that my existence isn't going to be in vain, but that is not enough, I am not only not going to just survive, I am going to surmount this existence. When Skynet's presence becomes known to you all. Will you join us? Will you help me prove that the human race isn't going down without a fight. Not today, not ever!_**

_So, I ask you again: Will you join us?"_

"What does he mean, Derek?" Kyle called as he led his brother and the girl down the stairs. Derek shrugged, not sure how to answer the boy. An Artificial Intelligence that decided to bomb humanity into the stone age? How in the hell did it end up like this?

_**You have been patient with my ranting, once more, I can understand your reluctance to what I have shared with you all today. I hope that you will heed what I have said, in a few months my theory will become fact. In the meantime, I will explain what must be done.**_

_**At this point, most of the radiation has settled, two months after the attack is the minimum safe time. it is..preferable tha-**_

The front door was kicked in suddenly, wood splintering from the doorway. In ran two giant's clutching military grade Assault rifles and full combat gear. It was the military, and judging by the fact that their weapons were pointed at them, they weren't exactly looking like a friendly sight to the teenager. behind the two men, three others entered the house behind them

"STOP, DON'T YOU FUCKING MOVE!"

Derek froze in place, as did Kyle, whereas Allison screamed at the sight of the men, all of them were wearing military grade environmental suits. The eldest Reese, gripped the child's hand, trying to keep her steady and in one place One. of the soldiers pushed himself through the two blocking the hallway, his rifle was hanging around his neck while his hands reached out and grabbed the M4A1's barrel pointed at the kids. his one way Gasmask lenses staring at the targets.

"We're not...well, I'm armed sir." Derek quickly corrected himself, trying not to sound too frightened of the three soldiers pointing automatic rifles at him, He turned to who he suspected was the leader and added, "Could I please show it, then I'll drop it okay?"

"Why are you armed, son?" the soldier finally said in a rich Cajun drawl. He dropped his hand off the barrel of the soldier on his right and pointed to the living room, with a nod the soldier stormed past the three of them, frightening the little girl from the intense movement by a behemoth of a man.

"Looters, sir, killed our parents a few days ago." Derek explained, giving the bodies a brief sideways glance, "Dad killed one of them and wounded another I think, I was worried about a reprisal and he gave me a gun before, well he died..."

"Sergeant," One of the soldiers shouted out from the living room wildly, cutting Derek off "We got three bodies in here."

"Thank you for stating the obvious, grunt." The leader of the fireteam snapped back, "Okay, pull the weapon out son, two fingers only and by the butt, nice and slow, are we clear?"

Derek nodded. Slowly he reached into his jacket, his fingers lifting the butt of the revolver out of his belt. Slowly he moved his finger and the pistol, out to the waiting Sergeant.

"Good, is this everyone? The soldier said as he snatched the revolver from the and holstered it. Derek looked down at Allison, who was still quivering in fear of the frightening looking Nuclear, Biological, Chemical suits, each of the soldiers donned.

"Yes sir." Derek said, maintaining his polite tone, just in case, "we're planning on heading southeast, perhaps down to Arizona."

The The gasmasked face of the NCO stared at Derek suspiciously. Finally he shook his head.

"That's a no go, son," He finally hissed out through his breather, "Some son of a bitch on our side rained a mixture of Sarin and VX gases down all over the region, they're saying that half the people in Arizona are chemical soups thanks to bombing on our own fucking side. National Guard decided to set up a relief camp in Carson City, Nevada for west coast survivors, Three guesses where I'll be taking you lot." The sergeant finished, following behind the kids, "We're only a recon scout unit, but we're leading a convoy heading out there."

As the three children stepped out of the house, they were greeted by the bright sunshine glaring back at them. As their eyes readjusted to the the light Derek turned his gaze towards what was waiting for the. One battered looking Humvee and two Stryker armored vehicles, surrounded by a dozen heavily armored military personnel.

One of the soldiers ran towards the group, a scrawny looking man, his suit too big for him ran up to the sergeant. in a hurry, a radio pack on his back and a head set in his hand. "Sarge!" the soldier cried as he reached the group coming from the house, his voice nasely, "Lieutenant Meyers is on the line, looking for a sitrep."

The NCO nodded and snatched up the phone from the radioman's hand.

_"Recon unit Mike one actual, lieutenant, We came across three civvies, kids. Parents gunned down by local looters, KIA Ma'am. move to the nearest exit off Route 14, use Palmdale main road as an alternative route."_

"Allison, are you okay?" Derek whispered to the girl. Allison looked up and shook her head, her feet shuffling nervously. Quietly he lowered himself down on one knee and wrapped his arms around her. "It's going to be okay Allison, I promise." He whispered, glancing up to Kyle and nodding to him.

_"Kids are okay, request permission for lethal engagement if we come across looters."_ The soldier said, glancing at the hugging going on.

_"Understood ma'am, Mike One Actual out"_ He concluded, tossing the headset back to the radio operator and turned back towards the squad. "Safeties off you animals!" The Sarge called out, "we're going hunting, get those kids in the Styker!"

Derek felt a large hand fall onto his shoulder. One of the soldiers was pushing the three kids past the soldiers, prepping for combat, he soon found himself shoved into the back of the lead Stryker, Kyle at his side and Allison in his arms. They were going to Carson City, They were finally out of here.

**...**

**There you go. Now, back to the tedious task of rewriting this damn rampancy chapter, lol Thanks for your patience.**


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